Play ball!

Mike Conklin, Special to Tribune Newspapers

A day after the Los Angeles Angels acquired superstar Albert Pujols in December, a trickle of fans found their way to the team's Arizona spring training site in Tempe Diablo Stadium. No one was deterred that the box office was closed until Feb. 18. "I'll be back," said an Anaheim resident in the area on business. "This is big."

If fans couldn't contain excitement over the slugger joining the Angels, officials with the Cactus League, a consortium of Major League Baseball teams that train in Arizona, weren't far behind. Pujols always trained in Florida with the Cardinals, but now he's an added draw for Phoenix's blooming spring baseball economy.

Half of the MLB franchises, 15, will train for a second straight year in greater Phoenix, giving it the largest-ever concentration of teams in a single metro area. "We're becoming one big baseball theme park here," Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said.

Last year's Cactus League attendance was a record 1,613,853 fans for all games, topping Florida for the first time. "With the economy last year, we thought it might have a big impact and weren't really sure," said Brad Curtis, Cactus League president. "Now we expect to do even better this spring."

The growth in 2011, spiked by new fan-friendly stadiums, had an estimated $360 million impact for Arizona's tourism industry. A study by Smith Travel Research showed hotel occupancy rates were at 83.2 percent for March, a high for the month in the Valley of the Sun. Experts place the number of out-of-towners attending games at 800,000.

The Cactus League season takes up almost all of March, conveniently coinciding with student spring breaks. The teams train for 10 days before the first game March 2 between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's. The schedule starts in earnest the following day, with as many as 10 games played daily through April 4.

Four new spectator-friendly ballparks that opened since 2002 are responsible for the surge, luring more clubs and followers. They are: Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Camelback Ranch in Glendale and Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, near Scottsdale on Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community property.

Daytime temperatures average in the mid-70s in that stretch, with March traditionally an excellent time for Phoenix weather. The average rainfall is less than an inch, meaning few games are canceled, Curtis noted.

This also means other activities that draw tourists to Arizona — golf, tours, swimming, hiking, shopping, museums, Grand Canyon, casinos — remain easy to plan, no small matter for parents with kids. A league survey indicated that out-of-town fans stay an average of 4.7 nights per visit, which means time to fill outside the spring training games.

In the last three years, six franchises have relocated to the Phoenix area. This includes three from Florida (Dodgers, Reds, Indians) and three from Tucson (Diamondbacks, Rockies, White Sox), leaving Arizona's second-largest city without a team.

None of the spring training ballparks is more than an hour from the others on a Phoenix highway system more efficient than those of older metropolitan areas. This means fans easily can follow their uniformed heroes either in their home stadium or on the road. It's also possible to see two games with a day-night combination.

Want to see the Cubs, but maybe their home game with the Reds March 12 in Mesa's HoHoKam Park is a sellout? Try the next day, when they play the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale Stadium also in the East Valley.

If the White Sox are sold out March 10 against the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch in Glendale in the West Valley, you can catch them the next day against the Rockies in Salt River Fields at Talking Stick near Scottsdale in the East Valley.

The proximity also means Cactus teams play each other at least once in the preseason. This gives fans the opportunity to see more opponents — as many as 14 — unlike in Florida, where the clubs are scattered on both coasts and don't all play each other, Curtis said.

A Wall Street Journal spring training "Arizona vs. Florida" score card last year gave the nod to the Valley of the Sun, pointing out better ballparks, superior weather, convenience and cheaper tickets.

The big stadium spike in 2010 was provided by a debut of the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. The state-of-the-art baseball stadium is shared by the local Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

Tickets to spring training games are less expensive than regular season games, ranging from a low of $6 to $40. The facilities are smaller than MLB parks, meaning spectators are close to the action. Some stadiums, such as Camelback Ranch in Glendale, where the White Sox and Dodgers play, have free parking.

As the Phoenix area's baseball business grows, so do events surrounding it.

For example, any early birds in the area also can take in a pre-season baseball festival Feb. 25-26 planned for Scottsdale's Civic Center and Center for the Performing Arts. This includes interactive baseball activities, talks on the sport's science and the debut of a Cactus League film.

Baseball tickets

There are few sellouts, but get tickets in advance for the Cubs playing at HoHoKam in Mesa, Cubs vs. White Sox wherever they play, and Dodgers in Glendale. Make your purchase through teams to avoid extra charges. The Cactus League has info: cactusleague.com. Also tickets.com (800-905-3315) or Ticketmaster (800-745-3000). Tip: Tickets can be purchased in Fry's Marketplace grocery stores.